What does the Bowes Museum in Barnard Castle, County Durham, have in common with the creator of the world’s first banana piano? Both have recently used the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter to get their creative projects off the ground.
The digital revolution has enabled museums to reach audiences in many new ways and online giving is now a vital part of fundraising for lots of venues.
But it’s only recently that institutions have started to explore crowdfunding through social media as a way of raising money for more specific, time-limited projects such as exhibitions and art installations.
Success stories
There are a few crowdfunding platforms out there, but the one favoured by some museums is Kickstarter, which launched in the UK in 2012. Since then, the successful museum-related campaigns have included:
Kickstarter only funds creative projects. This means that campaigns aren’t competing with other, more traditionally “worthy” causes for funding. It also enables fundraisers to connect with people who already have an interest in the arts, as well as a wide range of peers from other creative industries.
All or nothing
A Kickstarter project must raise its target investment within a maximum of 60 days, a time frame that builds a momentum for fundraising campaigns and translates into a success rate of almost one in two.
Although the company gets a 5% commission on any funds raised, unlike other investment forums, neither Kickstarter nor any of a project’s backers can claim ownership rights over the work produced.
Launching a campaign is straightforward but it does require careful planning. Every prospective fundraiser must submit a video outlining the concept of their project, and with such a short time-frame, it’s vital to create an impact from the very start.
Adele Patrick, the creative development manager at Glasgow Women’s Library, says the things that helped its campaign most included:
Kickstarter offers no guarantee of success – and there are some pitfalls to look out for. The site requires funding recipients to reward their backers with a gift based on the size of the donation (often a T-shirt, goody-bag or art print), which means that costs can mount up if this is not carefully budgeted for.
Kickstarter and similar forums may not be a panacea, but with alternative sources of money in short supply, they do have the potential to democratise funding and help museums to realise projects that may never otherwise see the light of day.
“Our contemporary art exhibitions are intended to reach new audiences so we decided to try crowdfunding as a way of interesting them in our project.
We chose Kickstarter as our crowdfunding platform knowing Gavin Turk and his wife Deborah had used it to raise funds for their charity. I would recommend running a campaign for about 30 days.
You need to be able to contact as many people as possible in a short period of time, so plan who you intend to share your campaign with before your project goes live and hit the ground running.
Write your campaign using language you would use to tell your best friend exciting news and develop it like a blog, sharing updates along the way.
Kickstarter is not tax efficient, has an administrative charge and the rewards may be subject to VAT. However, it provides access to a global audience of potential supporters that traditional fundraising techniques do not reach.”
The digital revolution has enabled museums to reach audiences in many new ways and online giving is now a vital part of fundraising for lots of venues.
But it’s only recently that institutions have started to explore crowdfunding through social media as a way of raising money for more specific, time-limited projects such as exhibitions and art installations.
Success stories
There are a few crowdfunding platforms out there, but the one favoured by some museums is Kickstarter, which launched in the UK in 2012. Since then, the successful museum-related campaigns have included:
- £5,839 for Glasgow Women’s Library to publish a book, 21 Revolutions, featuring work by women artists and writers inspired by material from its collections.
- £8,680 for the Bowes Museum to commission a neon light artwork by Gavin Turk and install it on the building’s facade to complement an exhibition of the artist’s work.
- £33,492 for the William Heath Robinson Trust to fit out a permanent exhibition gallery in the new museum being built to house the artist’s collection.
Kickstarter only funds creative projects. This means that campaigns aren’t competing with other, more traditionally “worthy” causes for funding. It also enables fundraisers to connect with people who already have an interest in the arts, as well as a wide range of peers from other creative industries.
All or nothing
A Kickstarter project must raise its target investment within a maximum of 60 days, a time frame that builds a momentum for fundraising campaigns and translates into a success rate of almost one in two.
Although the company gets a 5% commission on any funds raised, unlike other investment forums, neither Kickstarter nor any of a project’s backers can claim ownership rights over the work produced.
Launching a campaign is straightforward but it does require careful planning. Every prospective fundraiser must submit a video outlining the concept of their project, and with such a short time-frame, it’s vital to create an impact from the very start.
Adele Patrick, the creative development manager at Glasgow Women’s Library, says the things that helped its campaign most included:
- A strong video.
- A team – including volunteers – who already knew their way around Kickstarter as backers.
- Fine-tuning pledges.
- Setting up a dedicated Twitter site for the project.
- Committed tweeters and bloggers to add regularly updated site content.
Kickstarter offers no guarantee of success – and there are some pitfalls to look out for. The site requires funding recipients to reward their backers with a gift based on the size of the donation (often a T-shirt, goody-bag or art print), which means that costs can mount up if this is not carefully budgeted for.
Kickstarter and similar forums may not be a panacea, but with alternative sources of money in short supply, they do have the potential to democratise funding and help museums to realise projects that may never otherwise see the light of day.
Alison Nicholson, digital communications officer, Bowes Museum
“Our contemporary art exhibitions are intended to reach new audiences so we decided to try crowdfunding as a way of interesting them in our project.
We chose Kickstarter as our crowdfunding platform knowing Gavin Turk and his wife Deborah had used it to raise funds for their charity. I would recommend running a campaign for about 30 days.
You need to be able to contact as many people as possible in a short period of time, so plan who you intend to share your campaign with before your project goes live and hit the ground running.
Write your campaign using language you would use to tell your best friend exciting news and develop it like a blog, sharing updates along the way.
Kickstarter is not tax efficient, has an administrative charge and the rewards may be subject to VAT. However, it provides access to a global audience of potential supporters that traditional fundraising techniques do not reach.”
